Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights condemns suspend the powers of advocate in Azerbaijan

Strasbourg/22.11.17/Turan: "I am concerned at the decision of the Bar Association of Azerbaijan to suspend the powers of Yalchin Imanov as an advocate and to refer his case to a court with a view to his disbarment", - reads a statement of Nils Muiznieks , Council of Europe Comissioner for Human Rights.

"A lawyer practicing in Azerbaijan, Yalchin Imanov has been involved in the protection of human rights and has notably acted as defence lawyer for a number of human rights defenders. Recently, he was vocal in denouncing torture in Gobustan prison and was accused of disseminating false information, with many seeing the current proceedings against him as retaliation for exposing human rights violations, in contradiction with international and European standards. As stressed by the European Court of Human Rights with regard to freedom of expression of lawyers, "a lawyer should be able to draw the public"s attention to potential shortcomings in the justice system; the judiciary may benefit from constructive criticism."

This decision comes in the wake of other developments affecting the profession of lawyers in Azerbaijan. Two weeks ago, the President of Azerbaijan signed amendments to the law regulating representation before the courts in Azerbaijan, imposing in practice a Bar Association monopoly on legal practice as only legal professionals licenced by the Bar will be able to represent people before courts. While the regulation of the profession is in itself desirable, concerns have been expressed that, due to the lack of independence and legitimacy of the Bar Association, these amendments will negatively affect the citizens" right of access to the courts. This might be compounded by the shortage of lawyers in the country as well as the lack of any transitional measures before the new system enters into force on 1st January 2018.

In my submission to the European Court of Human Rights last year, I highlighted a pattern of harassment against human rights lawyers working on sensitive cases in Azerbaijan, in particular intimidation of lawyers through lawsuits and disciplinary proceedings by the Bar Association. I stressed that the fact that lawyers working on human rights and defending prominent human rights defenders are particularly affected reinforces the belief that they are being deliberately targeted with disciplinary proceedings as a result of their engagement in activities that should be perfectly legal in a well-functioning democracy.

I call on the Azerbaijani authorities to start reversing this trend and develop a more conducive environment for lawyers, so that they can discharge their functions freely without any fear of persecution, harassment or retaliation", - says the statement. -0-